An employee walking along a thermal pipe at the Kamojang geothermalpower plant near Garut, West Java, on March 18. State utility provider Perusahaan Listrik Negara is targeting an additional 135 megawatts ofelectricity from three new geothermal plants. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time. …”

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Transformer blast cuts off power around capital

Residents of several areas of Jakarta are still without electricity after damage to transformers in Muara Karang, North Jakarta, triggered blackouts throughout the city Wednesday.

Meltdown: Workers repair a transformer at a power plant in Muara Karang, North Jakarta. The transformer exploded on Wednesday, leaving many parts of Jakarta without power for several hours. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama

Power went out when a measuring device on one transformer broke off and hit a second transformer at a power plant operated by state-owned power company PT PLN, Purnomo Willy, PLN Jakarta and Tangerang general manager, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The two damaged transformers carry 700 of the 1,000 megawatts produced by the Muara Karang power plant, he said.

PLN cut power to some areas in May due to a leaking oil pump in a turbine machine at the same power plant.

The leak had reduced the plant’s capacity, forcing PLN to implement rotating blackouts in the capital.

Wednesday’s outage forced some Jakartans to live without electricity from 9 a.m. into the afternoon before power was restored.

The affected areas were Muara Angke, Pluit and other areas in North Jakarta; Cengkareng and Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta; Kebayoran Baru and Mampang in South Jakarta; Budi Kemuliaan and Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta and parts of Tangerang, Banten, including Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

The airport’s emergency generator immediately began operating when the power died and there were no disruptions to airport activities.

The blackout also crippled traffic lights in the affected areas, fouling traffic for hours.

Ratna, a 27-year-old employee at a media company in Buncit Raya, South Jakarta, said her office had been notified about the possibility of blackouts at 9 a.m.

Several minutes later, the power went out and the office’s emergency generator kicked in, she said.

“The emergency generator had to be turned off at 1:30 p.m. Before that, the office’s air conditioner was also turned off making us feel hot,” she said.

She and her friends eventually decided to take their lunch break at a nearby mall, prompting her boss to joke that the office had been moved to the mall.

Rizka, a 21-year-old student at a private university in Kebayoran Baru, said her boarding house had lost power at 11 a.m.

“The power was still down when I left my boarding house at 3 p.m.,” she said.

She added that since she had assignments and her cell phone was running low, she decided to go to the office to finish her assignments and recharge her phone.

Purnomo said PLN employees were busy repairing the transformers and had already restored electricity to most areas.

“Since part of the electricity grid in Jakarta is supported by our plant in Gandul, Depok, we were able to restore power to some areas quickly,” he said, adding the Gandul plant has a total load of 1,500 megawatts.

Residents of Muara Karang, Pluit and surrounding areas are still waiting for power to be restored because the Muara Karang steam power plant is the sole source of electricity for the area, he said.

Health, Safety & Environment

PRECARIOUS: Without proper safety equipment, three workers put the iron frame for a billboard in place near the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta on Friday. The billboard will display a sign celebrating the city's 480th birthday. JP/Arief Suhardiman

Suppliers

Water Distribution

Flow of Funds, Flow of Water (WB)

Today, fewer than 20% of households in Indonesia have access to piped water, which is inexpensive and still of reasonable quality compared to alternative sources. The situation has deteriorated in recent years, as the sector can no longer rely on central government grants and loans, formerly major sources of funding.Read More ...

FREE CAR WASH: A taxi is sprayed with water from a broken pipe on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta on Sunday. (JP/J. Adiguna)

GIFT FROM EARTH: Almost half of Jakarta's residents use groundwater as their main source of clean water due to a lack of access to treated piped water. Water comes from wells like the one this family in Kampung Bahari, North Jakarta are using (photo above), or mechanic pumps like this one in Kampung Melayu, South Jakarta. (JP/P.J. Leo)

LATEST NEWS: Photographers covering the deteriorating health of former president Soeharto send pictures through a wireless internet facility in front of Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta on Wednesday. The service, which was provided by IT company CISCO, has saved journalists the effort of going back and forth between their offices to submit their work. JP/R. Berto Wedhatama